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Arrange The Clues
The Seven Secrets of the Dragon Clan Momoko produced a map from her person. Detailed on the paper was several locations around the village. Supposedly, these all were important factoids on numerous mysteries around the area. "...Alright, guys. These are seven places I wanna visit. Legend says that they're all mysterious- and solving the riddles will lead to something climatic happening..." Iris's tail wagged. "I still think that this is all one giant hoax, but whatever floats your boat~ Let's get to it then, shall we~?" "I can't help but point out that things like this never end well." Yasaka said irritably. "Has solving a riddle to get a climactic even ever been good for the parties involved?" "Relax, Yasaka." Wendy said soothingly. "I think it could be fun!" Vivian wasn't too amused. In fact, she was actually rather peeved by this whole turn of events. "And so, nobody still cares that I am freezing my butt off..." Ulalia smacked Vivian on the ass rather heartily, making her yelp slightly. "Relax, sweet cheeks. I mean, it's not really killing you just to do all this, is it?" "So where do we go first?' Wendy asked, excitededly. The prospect of treasure hunting excited the child greatly, she'd never done it before, since, living with Jason was always a quiet thing, and even now with the guild, treasure hunting was never a job request they'd recieved. Momoko traced her fingers around the rather dusty-looking map, seemingly unimpressed by the quality of it. "I can't see a thing, honestly. But what I can make out is that they're littered about in different places, meaning that it could quite possibly take some time to find the mysteries." Iris raised a valid point. "Or we could ask people who actually know where they are." Momoko applied her palm to her forehead in exasperation. "...Good point." "Before we do anything..." Jason walked over to Iris, and removed an acorn from behind her ear, looking at it curiously. "What is this? It seems to be different from a normal acorn..." Iris's eyes lit up in excitement. She wasn't sure if she wanted to consume it straight away or save it for winter season. Sweat trailed down her face as she was overcome with possible thoughts. "...I'll think I'll just save it for later on..." Vivian looked grumpy. "...So, where's my present....huh?" Iris grinned, "You'll get your present when you make that sandwich for that guy." "You'll most likely get one later on, don't let the thoughts absorb you." Jason told Vivian. He knew Mr. E better than the rest of them, and was quite sure he knew Vivian wanted something. When the girl least expected it, she'd get her own weapon. "Let's go, let's go!" Wendy was tugging on Momoko's arm, trying to budge her. She really was excited. Momoko looked down at the small girl gripping her, mumuring, "Alright, alright. Don't rush these things." She seemed rather unamused. "We require the utmost concentration and planning-" "TREASURE HUNT LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~!" Iris dashed out of the building at high speeds, leaving the remainder of the group in her wake. "...For once, Iris has the right plan." Ulalia snarked at Momoko, who was utterly speechless. Jason sighed. "Foolish girl..." He looked over at Momoko, a look of mild exasperation on his face. "You'll adjust to that." Momoko clicked her teeth. "...I hope so. I'm...just not so good at handling people like that." Ulalia chimed in the background, "You'll get used to it~" Jason held up a little bell, and rang it. "She'll hear this, the chime of the bell, and come bustling back." He explained to confused looks. "It's the best way to keep her around without using a leash." Momoko was still confused. "So she's like a pet to you?" Vivian remarked, "Pretty much." "Heyheyheyheyheyheyheyheyhey~~" Iris scrambled in; her eyes wide with excitement as she burst towards Jason on all fours, tackling him to the ground. "What wassdat?!" She was so hyperactive right now it was sickeningly adorable. "She's not a pet." Jason told Vivian, as he stroked Iris' ears and he felt her tense up and relax as he pocketed the bell. He slid the girl off of him, petting her head to keep her content. He looked over at Momoko. "You simply have to learn how to control her." Momoko still wasn't sure what to say. "I see." Vivian placed her hand on Momoko's shoulder. "Don't think too hard about these things." "Now let's gooooo~" Wendy was still tugging on Momoko's arm. "Maybe we'll find really pretty things!" Iris's ears shook for a moment. "Hopefully~!" Her tail was wagging as well in excitement and anticipation. Vivian seemed rather annoyed by it all. "...Sometimes, you're too hyperactive, y'know." ---- "So what are we looking for, so we know exactly what to ask around for?" Yasaka asked, floating around Momoko, looking at her map. "Your villagers might know some things, no?" Momoko looked up at the Exceed with an 'are you serious' expression, muttering in an almost-hissing tone, "Exactly. We could ask the old bag or other elderly people. We'll split up and scout the area, asking whoever looks like they may know something about the Seven Secrets of the Dragon Clan." Yasaka was rather taken aback by the woman's attitude to her, and she immediately went back to Wendy's side, where the air was much kinder. "Wendy, Yasaka, and I will go speak with the Elder." Jason started to give directions. "Momoko, you go with Iris-" He tossed Momoko the bell. "and consult with the elderly, and Ulalia and Vivian, you two can ask the other elderly. This shouldn't take long." Momoko sighed as she caught the bell in her hands. "I'm always with the crazy ones..." Iris wrapped her tail around Momoko's arm rather pleasantly. "...Well, she is rather soft...so I'll think I won't complaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain~" ---- Jason and Wendy headed up to the Elder's current residence. Since he had destroyed her old one, she'd moved into a different one. Without knocking, they entered, looking around for her. "Elder!" Wendy called out into the dark of the house. "Are you here?" Jane wandered out from the primitave looking bath stall, drying her hair...and there was nothing else to conceal her body. Thankfully, she was still in her young form, so nobody was mentally scarred. "I'm always here, chumps. So, what do you want?" She remained oblivious to the whole situation. Jason immediately covered Wendy's eyes, to keep her from seeing Jane's bare form. "Momoko is interested in looking into the Seven Secrets of your Clan. We need information." Quick and to the point. Jane began to count her fingers. "Let's see. There's the Wailing Well, which is to the northeast of here, on the hills. Rumor has it that when you peer directly down into it, you can hear haunting voices screaming for help. It is rather unsettling, to be honest. But other than that, that's the only one I've actually found that's real." Wendy started to shiver, nervous at the sound of "haunting voices". Jason took note of it, but did nothing to calm her since his main priority was keeping her eyes covered. "Alright. Thank you for your time." Howl of Shadow The group all met together under the sails at the center of town once again. Investigations had been concluded. Almost immediately after, Momoko asked each and every one of them, "What did you find out?" She was rather impatient about this. "...Actually, LaHote, Wendy, go first." "The old biddy mentioned the 'Wailing Well'," Yasaka explained, before Jason and Wendy could speak. "She says it's the only one she's seen that's exists. When you look directly into it, apparently, you hear voices screaming for help." Wendy shuddered again, but Jason put his hand on her head, and she relaxed. Ulalia spoke up for both her and Vivian. "We learned about the Ascending Stairs. No matter how much you traverse up them, you can never reach an end unless you head back down." Momoko snarked, "That's...rather underwhelming. Iris and I found out about the Fountain of Truth; where you drop a Jewel note in; and it will reflect your inner self." "The question being...which do we head to first?" Jason asked the girls, deciding they'd lead this little exposition. Momoko was downright sarcastic in her answer. "I honestly think that the well is the safest of them all. Let's head there!" She paused and repeated that in a non-smartass tone. "But yeah, the well. It would be best to do the most eerie first so we don't have to think about it as much later on." "L-l-l-let's g-g-go!" Wendy tried to act tough, but it was obvious she was still nervous about going to a place labeled as "haunted". "Take us to it." Jason told Momoko. While it wasn't an 'order', it wasn't a 'request' either. Momoko pulled out the dusty map once again, tracing her fingers along the short roads. "Alright. It should take us about ten minutes to get there if we run." She suddenly stopped all other forms of action and charged up magic in her feet; before blasting off with a jet of water that erupted from the soles of her shoes. Iris muttered, "...That's a bit flashy..." Arriving at the well in a fairly short space of time, it was noticeably worn. Understandable, since in a frozen area such as this, a well would be borderline useless and Jason was beginning to wonder why it existed at all. It was covered with frost and very clearly in need of maintenance. He walked over to it, and peered inside. Iris shuffled over to the well, sticking her head down the hole in an attempt to scour the depths of the murky blackness that laid beneath. "...Oh, hey, there's nothing down there, I can't see a-" WHOOSH. Iris's body pushed forward, as she fell into the well. "...Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing~" Momoko just applied her palm to her forehead in exasperation. "...Dammit, Iris. Just, dammit." "Such words couldn't better explain our reaction." Jason said, equally exasperated. "We're following, of course. I won't leave Iris down there." Jason immediately picked up Wendy, who grabbed Yasaka and held her tight to the point where the Exceed might need resuscitation and leapt down into the well. He may as well have screamed "Leeroy Jenkins" at the top of his lungs. Momoko couldn't help but wonder, "Is being around these fools a curse or a blessing", before following suit after a few moments of thought. With a sudden flipping movement, Momoko leaped down into the well; her vision was blurred by the inky darkness that surrounded them. "...Huh. This isn't so scary..." Vivian and Ulalia looked at each other. "You first." Ulalia grabbed Vivian and merrily pushed her down the well. "No, the plans have been...rerranged!" Jason landed neatly, his palm firmly planted on the ground and he let Wendy down in time to catch Momoko, who fell shortly after, and Vivian, who was tumbling down to to Ulalia's hasty nature of forcing her into the well. Looking directly at Vivian, he asked, "Are you alright?" Vivian dusted herself off. "...Yeah, yeah. No worse than when I fell down that tree when we first met..." Ulalia leapt down into the well with a shrill squeal of excitement- she landed perfectly on her feet, no worse for wear. "Alright, we're all down here. Now, let's go find that adorable fuzzball!" They proceeded down the well, which was absurdly spacious for an underground water storage unit. It was curved much like a tunnel, spanning a good hundred miles down. As they descended, Wendy kept calling for Iris, her voice echoing everywhere. Ulalia wrote on the air "Solid Script: L-I-G-H-T." From her palm spewed a valuable light which she utilized to well, light the way. But this, sadly, revealed the true, horrifying visage of the caverns inside. The stone-cold walls were painted with blood; and decaying corpses were strewn about in numerous places- it honestly looked like the lair of a supervillain- or a serial killer. At that point, Ulalia wished she hadn't provided a source of light. "....Is it okay if I turn the light back off?" "P-please!" Wendy squeaked in fear, clinging to Jason's robes. "Turn it off." Jason told Ulalia quietly, not wishing to see Wendy in fear. "We'll make our way in the dark." Ulalia was less than brave here; she smached her own hand about several dozen times furiously in a terrified manner, before the light shut off miraculously. "Whew...Alright, let's vamoose." "Er, vamoose?" Vivian looked at her with a complete 'what' expression. "Got a problem, you can take it up with me later. Let's get here, save that adorable fuzzball, and get the heck out of here." Blunt and to the point. Jason removed a spare bell from his kosode - Momoko still had the other one - and he rang it, the beautiful chiming sound echoing throughout the haunted, hollow chambers. He was sure the girl would hear it. "...!?" Iris' ears perked up in a distant location; she recognized the sound of that bell anywhere. Naturally, like the half-animal she was, Iris sprinted towards the source of the resounding chime at full pelt; speeding towards Jason with the intent of hug-tackling him. "I'mcomingI'mcomingI'mcomingI'mcomingI'mcomingI'mcoming~~!!!" It was no time at all when she reached the group, leaping into Jason's arms. Momoko couldn't help but be astounded. "....That was...faster than light." Vivian snarked, "Nope. You just blinked." Jason caught Iris, keeping a grip on her in his arms, obviously checking her body for some form of injury or other affliction. He found none, and set her down. "Where were you that you were unable to hear our calls?" Iris pressed her pointer finger to her lip in thought. It took her a few moments to confirm the cause of her disorientation. "I saw...saw...saw..." She continued to drawl on for a few moments. Ulalia put her hand on Iris' shoulder, questioning, "Saw what, hun?" Iris suddenly became alert. "Oh, right! Where was I...Oh yeah! I saw some giant inky mass when I reached a dead end in these caverns!" "Giant...inky mass?" Jason repeated the words slowly, trying to wrap his mind around such an entity. "Take us to it." Wendy began to moan in fear, obviously wanting to stay as far away from an "inky mass" as possible. Understandable, such things tended to assimilate victims and Wendy was fully aware of the horrors that could cause. Iris's teeth were chattering. "Yeah...A giant inky mass with a giant red eye in the middle...! Vivian's eyes sharpened at those words. "...You don't say. Iris, remember when we were trying out to become Rune Knights, and we were handed a monster encyclopedia?" Iris nodded diminuitively. "....Y-Yeah." "That description sounds exactly like the Inka, doesn't it?" Iris paused for a moment. "Inka?" "....Oh, come on. It's a living shadow demon borne from Living Magic. It's stated to haunt a well in some unspecified region...I guess we now know what region that is." Vivian's tone was that of utmost seriousness. "Inka?" Yasaka's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Seriously now? No one could come up with a better name than Inka?" Vivian put her in her place. "...It's the name of an ancient being revered as a diety. So no matter how it silly it sounds to your ears, it's still quite fearsome. This means, quite obviously, that we should keep our guard up at all times while walking around in here. It can attack from anywhere..." Ulalia actually seemed worried for a moment, though her fretting faded away, to return to her usual cheery demeanour. "...Let's just relax~ We can handle anything, y'know." "A monster made purely of ink." Jason was mulling over whether he should send Wendy back up to the top of the Well. Monsters made of substances like ink were none too safe for fermales, their little beach episode proved that. But they were so far down already, Wendy would get lost. Instead, he tugged her close, to keep an eye on her. She was pleased with this kind of affection . "Iris, take us to where you saw this demon." Iris' ears perked up; she began to make a run for it- heading straight to the source, seeming to leave a dust cloud in her image in her wake. "Alrightalrightalrightalrightalrightalrightalrighty~~!!" Vivian couldn't help but be exasperated. "...She's always like this. I wonder if she ever stops acting like she's high on sugar..." "When it's beneficial for us, don't complain." Jason told her, picking up Wendy in his arms and dashing off, leaving vague images of himself behind that faded as he moved. That was....new. Vivian chased after them; while Ulalia grabbed onto Vivian's shoulders, immediately hoisting herself into a piggyback position. "Now, giddy up horsey!" Ulalia yelled at Vivian. Vivian scowled at this. "...What." Nevertheless, she complied and followed Jason and Wendy, hoping to find Iris as soon as possible. The group continued further down the dark depths of the well; until happening upon a antique looking seal; it had several glowing gems alligned in a circular pattern. Vivian couldn't help but ask, "What is this?" Iris, showing amazing foresight, responded, "Oh, right! When I pressed a random tile here, it opened!" "Which did you press?" Jason asked, looking curiously at the gems. Iris began to think again. "To be certain, you need to press the gems in a certain sequence and then press the middle tile. It should be easy...I mean-" Vivian snarked, "....I mean, if you could do it, then anyone else could do it. But what's the sequence?" Iris turned around and flashed Vivian a half-grin. "...Sorry, I forgot..." Momoko applied her palm to her forehead in exasperation. Jason, meanwhile, was placing his hand on the gems. There were a total of 11 gems, circular in nature. He pressed three on the left, three on the right, and then the gem directly in the center. Much to their surprised, the seal began to glow. Iris hopped back; and leaped into Vivian's arms, thus causing her to lose her balance slightly. Ulalia did the same- jumping into Iris' arms; that was the final straw- Vivian collapsed as the two girls landed on top of her; Iris' ample bosom pressing against Vivian and threatening to crush her. "Oi, owwww...." Iris was blushing at this occurance, while Ulalia, while admiring this forbidden love, stood to her feet rather nonchalantly. "...Alright, no more playing around." Momoko sighed. "Let's deal with what's in there and bust this myth." While Iris and Ulalia got up, Jason extended a hand to Vivian, helping her to her feet. "You seem to be slacking, Vivian. Don't get injured here." Vivian glanced away as she accepted Jason's help. "I won't, I won't. You know me..." her tone was that of mild annoyance. Of course Vivian was usually in a bad mood; so it wasn't surprising that this was her reaction. Iris seemed to perpetually ignore Vivian's apparant crankiness at all times; muttering, "So now, we face that massive blob again~" Jason placed an arm around Vivian's shoulder, a sign of affection. "So don't fall behind." He turned to Iris. "Take us to the Inka." Iris nodded as her ears propped up; a sign of obediance. "Righty...!" She was actually shaking, albeit it was subtle; perhaps she was afraid of this monstrosity. As they entered the main room, the group noticed that the walls and floors were stained with blood, and torture equipment was scattered around. Other than that, there was pitch-blackness; until a faint ringing sound resounded throughout the room. Ulalia yelped in fright. "Uwaaaaaa! The heck is that noise!?" Iris stuttered, "I h-heard it before...it keeps growing louder and louder!" She was also scared beyond belief. Jason told Wendy to stay with Vivian, who was one of the strongest in company as he walked over to the walls. He moved his hands over them, and his hands grazed the blood. "This...this blood is old." He proved this by flaking some of it off. "If this came from consumed victims....the Inka hasn't fed in quite awhile." "I-i-in awhile?" Wendy shuddered near Vivian. "But that m-mean's...." "It will be hungry." A violent rumbling noise resounded through the whole room; it was rather bone-chilling. "SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" A terrifying scream echoed violently as a cyclopean shadow spirit with two large disembodied hands descended from the ceiling. The eldtrich being in front of them looked so...irregular that it was like it was from another world. Iris leapt back, grabbing Vivian to take with her. "This is it...! This damn thing. I swear, it'll give me nightmares...!" "So..." Jason raised his arm in front of himself, summoning Gehaburn. ",,,you're the demon." He vanished, appearing right next to demon's right hand, swinging the blade towards the palms. WHOOSH! A torrent of darkness magic shot from the Inka's fingertips, creating a shadowy blast of pure concussive force that was aimed straight at Jason with tremendous force. Ulalia intervened, shooting, "Solid Script: Concussive!", forming a casing of white light around Jason's Gehaburn, which enabled the strike to succeed; it cut one of the Inka's palms, though moments later it's other fist rushed towards Jason with the intent to knock him straight down. Jason, expression more irritated than fearful, swing Gehaburn to block the strike. The punch hit the blade, and pushed Jason back, but he was relatively unharmed as he forced the fist back to it's eldritch host. "The beast thinks it's a force of evil." He seemed to find the very thought laughable. Within his blade resided the powers of one of the greatest darkness demons to exist. Certainly there could be none stronger than what he'd killed. "Skraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" The Inka let out another shriek as it faded into shadows; sliding along the walls rather fervently. Iris' eyes shifted around the room, never losing sight of her target. Swooosh~ When the Inka slowly began to emerge, she darted towards it and charged magical energy within her fist; the moment that the demon fully emerged from the stone wall, she grabbed it by the neck and slammed her fist into it's eye with full power before slamming it to the ground. Jason appeared moved in, landing next to the demon, and assumed an unusual stance; dropping into a partial crouch, both knees bend, right arm drawn back and left extended forward, Jason wound up his sword arm. Focusing his magical energy into his feet to get a better foothold as well as his left wrist to augment the strike, he thrust at the monster's head, whilst releasing his sword arm, creating a drilling-like effect at high speed and force, the spell Interitus Exercitium. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!" The Inka howled viciously as it was smashed against the walls by the force of Jason's blow; even though it's not supposed to have a mouth; nevertheless, multiple jagged teeth could be seen on the beast's body in the most bizarre of spots. Suddenly, it transformed into shadows once again before reappearing on the cieling, about to slam down upon the group with it's giant hands. Jason flipped backwards, using wind pressure to force everyone back as well as the hands hit the ground, cracking and creating craters. Wendy decided to swallow her fear, and inhaled deeply, releasing a Wind Dragon's Roar directly at the beast's eye. The Inka suddenly became deadly silent as it accepted Wendy's attack; after the impact there was no movement- no nothing. After a few moments floating in the air, the Inka began to glow omniously. Vivian ignited fire on her palms and began to lob a fireball towards the Inka; though on the moment of contact, the beast released a shockwave of energy which eradicted the flames. Something was happening...but nobody could realize what exactly. Jason called to everyone to group together. "We need to focus. The vermin is about to make a move." "Shouldn't we get it now?" Yasaka asked. "Before it can do anything?" She had a point. "None of our attacks did anything." Jason pointed out. "Not a scratch. Be patient, and let's see what is in store." The Inka's glow became that of a brutal crimson colour; before it let out a deafening roar and multiple glyphs of darkness manifested upon the cieling and walls of the room. Charging up magical energy, it was clear that something very, very bad was about to happen. Iris naturally, grabbed Vivian and Ulalia and jumped to the floor in anticipation. "...Stay perfectly still!" Whoosh! In an instant, hundreds of blasts of darkness erupted from the glyphs, bouncing erratically throughout the room in an attempt to catch the group off guard. In a flash, Jason moved beyond anyone's sight, deflecting each and every blast using Gehaburn. He was in his demonic form, the flames of energy licking his body and, for the first time in combat to anyone present, he was wearing his Mask. "Let's go, Gehaburn." Jason vanished, leaving an afterimage behind him as he moved, appearing in front of the demon's eye. "Pluvia Laminis - Sagitta Magica." He launched from his blade a large arrow with immense cutting power, slicing straight through the demon's eye - and this, it's brain- in just a few seconds. He landed on the ground, this sword returning to normal and his mask shattering as he watched the beast stumble. Slowly, but surely, the Inka plummetted to the ground and suddenly evaporated into an inky blackness, which slid into a crack in the floor. Momoko couldn't believe what just happened. "...Oh-kay, then....I guess that wasn't a mystery, but a damn real thing...." Iris muttered to herself, "I think I'll have nightmares..." Jason wrapped an arm around Iris' shoulders, since if someone as energtic as she felt fear, it must be genuine. "Alright, Momoko, if this was a genuine 'mystery' of your clan, that certainly means the others are real, yes?" Momoko shied away from answering this, rather distraught by what had just happened. "...Quite possibly." Vivian came to a conclusion. "Then if this mystery involved a shadow demon, then I'm betting the others have something to do with sealed demons in the village." "Then those are our targets." END